


How the Warblers Actually Found Out

by BohemianRhapsodyInBlue



Series: Could Have Been [2]
Category: Glee, The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Mild Language, Sebastian Smythe is Barry Allen | The Flash, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-24
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:42:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24355267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BohemianRhapsodyInBlue/pseuds/BohemianRhapsodyInBlue
Summary: Barry and Hunter have been setting up their pretend relationship for weeks now. Will Hunter's plan go as expected?-------------------------------------------Takes place between chapter 18 and 19 of 'Could Have Been'.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Hunter Clarington, Hunter Clarington/Sebastian Smythe, Nick Duval/Jeff Sterling
Series: Could Have Been [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1758346
Comments: 17
Kudos: 83
Collections: Flash - Coldflash





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so if you've read Could Have Been, welcome back my dudes, sorry this took a while to get started, turns out my degree will not be stopped so I've had a whole load of work to do and classes to go to. But nevertheless it's been cool to be writing this universe again.
> 
> For my people who have not read Could Have Been, I'm not even trying to promote that I honestly just think this is gonna be super confusing if you haven't read that first. But quick rundown
> 
> -Kurt kills himself  
> -Barry feels super guilty and accidentally goes back in time  
> -to fix it he decided to pretend he's in a relationship so Kurt won't feel like he's coming for Klaine's relationship  
> -Hunter agrees to be in a fake relationship
> 
> That's all you really need for this fic rn I suppose
> 
> This takes place between Chapter 18 and 19 of Could Have Been.
> 
> Enjoy x

They’d mentioned they might hang out. Some of the guys. So naturally Barry was in his room.

‘Sebastian, you do realise for people to think we’re together, they have to actually see us together, right?’ Hunter snarked standing in front of the bed, arms crossed impatiently. Barry huffed.

‘Yes I realise that, so we can do that tomorrow!’ 

‘No, they literally invited us to go hang out with them, this is the perfect time to act like we’re close in a casual setting. What’s the problem?’ Barry could hear the annoyance in his voice, he sighed.

The problem was that the idea of hanging out with them still stressed him out. Sure, they’d hung out before, but it was always ‘come watch a movie’, or ‘come study with us’. There was always something else to focus on, and when there wasn’t, he would fuck it up. He’d say something stupid or act too differently and Barry never knew how they were going to react.

Hunter sighed at the lack of response, jumping down onto the bed making Barry bounce slightly.

Barry understood his irritation, he had basically forced the boy into this situation to start with. He was sure Hunter would much rather be hanging out with the others than sat there on his bed. But Hunter had insisted that they spend as much time together as possible.

It was just that, Barry was a scientist at heart, being back in his teenage body wouldn’t change that, and social situations were too unpredictable. As much as he was sure that Hunter would love to drag him down the corridor to Wes’ room where they’d be hanging out, Barry couldn't stop the feeling that his heart was gonna beat out of his chest, or that his head would explode with the amount of thoughts buzzing behind his eyes.

So they sat there, idly playing on their phones.

Wow real fun, Barry, good job.

As if to make matters worse, that thought was drowned out by voices coming up the corridor. The two both perked up slightly, there was no way they could avoid hearing them, the group of boys all together were so loud. It didn’t even seem like they meant to be, they just naturally had this energy that made all want to talk. Barry felt a kind of ache in his chest, wishing he could just go out there and join them, but he knew he'd be too awkward.

‘Wait I’ve got an idea!’ Hunter jumped up, startling Barry out of his thoughts.

‘Wha-‘ 

Before he could even ask what Hunter was doing pressing his ear against the door, he was cut off by a moan.

Barry’s jaw dropped as Hunter started making vulgar noises.

‘Oh my god!’ He laughed at the absurdity of the situation. Hunter turned to him, grinning, gesturing for him to start as well.

So that’s how they found themselves sitting next to each other, backs against the door making the most obscene moans and 'Oh God's you’ve ever heard. Hunter seemingly getting a huge amount of entertainment out of trying to find the filthiest way to say Sebastian's name.

They heard the boys quieten down as they got closer to the door and then giggling awkwardly as Barry let out an ‘Oh fuck!’, after that it appeared they’d quickly moved on down the corridor not needing to hear anymore.

The two looked at each other, not able to hold in their own laughs at what they’d just done. Barry briefly wondered how he could feel completely comfortable pretending to have sex with someone he’s barely known for 2 months but not hanging out with the warblers who he’d known for years.

‘Wait, isn’t this just gonna make them think I’m still sleeping around?’ His brows furrowing.

‘Not ‘sleeping around’ necessarily, I overheard Wes earlier saying you were probably trying to hook up with me.’ Hunter explained as if that justified what just happened.

‘Oh great! So now they’re gonna believe that completely.’ He said, not really annoyed but at the very least confused.

‘No, they weren’t gonna believe you were suddenly abstinent anyway, but we can show them that this isn’t just some hook up.’

‘Ok… so how do we do that?’

-

The warblers settled down, sitting in various places around Wes’ room accepting that they wouldn’t be seeing Hunter and Sebastian.

So with that in mind, they were surprised when Hunter knocked on the door looking like he’d tried to tidy up his appearance in a hurry and failed. His shirt was tucked unevenly, and his tie was slightly askew, which on anyone else would look normal. Hunter, on the other hand, was a stickler for uniforms being perfectly neat, the amount of times he’d halted a rehearsal to make someone tuck their shirt in was ridiculous. It was something he’d picked up at military school. Uniforms meant exactly that, unity, they meant that everyone was in the same boat whether they liked it or not. So to see him now, was a startling comparison.

Hunter made his way across the room, sitting next to Flint. The two had briefly spoken about work out routines and Hunter considered that bonding.

‘Did he kick you out?’ Nick asked, watching him from his place, practically draped over Jeff’s lap.

‘What?’

‘He does that sometimes, doesn’t want people to get attached.’ Nick continued, and Hunter thought he could hear some smugness in his voice at them knowing Sebastian better than him. 

Hunter had begun to understand Sebastian’s desire to dispel these kind of ideas people seemed to have about him. It appeared to him that everyone thought they knew the boy. Hunter was apprehensive himself starting this scheme with Sebastian, having heard his fair share of rumours within the first few days of being there. But nothing he’d heard seemed to be true. 

Sebastian was kind, and hesitant, nothing like the person that had been described to him. Hunter didn’t get the slightest impression that the other was trying to sleep with him either, heck Hunter had to convince him just to pretend they were only 10 minutes ago.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Hunter responded, he truly didn’t. But for the sake of the plan Hunter managed to make himself look embarrassed, allowing the warblers to assume they were right.

He’d had the idea to try and make it seem like they were overcompensating to not be found out. After all, Sebastian was apparently known for talking about his sexual conquests. The only reason he wouldn’t want to brag about it this time was if it meant more than just a casual hook up.

With all of this in mind, Hunter took great satisfaction in the looks of surprise on the warblers' faces when Sebastian knocked on the door a few minutes later. The door opened to an equally unkempt looking boy, Sebastian self consciously patting down his hair, having not even bothered to fix his uniform. Without much to say, he sat down opposite Hunter, like they actually couldn’t sit further apart from each other without one of them leaving the room.

Barry took a breath of relief as he sat down, pretending to be interested in what Trent was saying next to him. He’d spent a full minute stood outside the door, well just next to the door, he didn’t want them to see his shadow and think he was weird for just standing there. He just couldn’t help himself from getting nervous again. But he had to come, ‘It’ll help the plan,’ Hunter had said. Barry had sighed begrudgingly realising that Hunter had actually managed to convince him to leave his room. 

When he was younger, probably around his freshman year, Iris would tell him every time he felt like he couldn’t bring himself to go into school, ‘It’s like an acting exercise, you just focus on what you want from the scene and then you’ll know what to do.’. Barry never really liked that explanation back then, he wasn’t one for drama, but Iris seemed to like it. So there he was stood outside, repeating Hunter’s words in his head, ‘we’re gonna act like we don’t want them to know.’.

we don’t want them to know

we don’t want them to know

we don’t want them to know

‘Sebastian?’ Barry immediately looked up.

‘Yes?’

‘We asked what you think?’ David said slowly.

Shit.

Barry looked around the room, trying to get some kind of idea what they were talking about, he caught eyes with Hunter across the room.

When it seemed like no one was gonna enlighten him, Hunter spoke up.

‘About Miss Morgan being pregnant?’ Barry sent him a grateful smile.

we don’t want them to know

He looked away quickly remembering what they were supposed to be doing, before realising what had been said.

‘Miss Morgan’s pregnant?’ He asked confused.

Some of the boys laughed, it was clear he hadn’t been listening.

‘That’s what we’re wondering.’ David finally explained.

’She can’t be, you guys are stupid.’ Thad remarked.

‘Dude she ate like a full plate of just tomatoes today at lunch, you know who else does that, pregnant people.’ 

‘Why are you watching her eat lunch? That’s so weird.’

And like that the attention was off him again. Barry was glad for that.

Even so, he could still sense some people watching them, the warblers hadn’t quite let go what they’d heard in the corridor yet, settling on suspiciously watching the two boys every now and then. He tried his best not to look over at Hunter, honestly he did but he just couldn’t help himself.

They made eye contact across the room and a little laugh burst out of Barry which he tried to contain thinking about what they’d just done.

Hunter did the same.

‘What?’ Nick asked immediately, the two having grabbed the attention of the rest of the guys.

‘What?’ Hunter repeated, his face going completely neutral as though he hadn’t just been laughing, Barry might have been impressed if he wasn't under the scrutiny of all the warblers.

‘You both just laughed.’

They spluttered.

we don’t want them to know

Barry felt his cheeks heating up at being caught, he hadn’t actually meant to laugh but weirdly Hunter didn’t seem annoyed.

‘Uh no- I was just- I remembered a um, a joke, an inside joke.’ Barry said grasping for some kind of explanation.

‘With each other?’ Wes asked slowly, eyes narrowing.

‘No, um, with some other person.’ Barry answered unconvincingly.

‘Yeah, same.’ Hunter backed him up. Barry looked over at him confused at why he was agreeing. Even Barry could see that his response wasn’t the slightest bit believable.

Nonetheless, they nodded together unconvincingly.

It wasn’t until later that he got some kind of understanding.

‘I thought we didn’t want them to know!’ He’d hissed outside Hunter’s door not wanting the rest of the corridor to hear. Hunter chuckled from his doorway.

‘No, we were just acting like we didn’t want them to know.’

‘That’s the same thing.’

‘No, we want them to know, but we don’t want them to know that we want them to know, they have to think that we don’t want them to know.’ Barry closed his eyes, pinching at the bridge of his nose.

‘That doesn’t make sense.’

Hunter chuckled.

‘It does, trust me.’

Hunter said goodnight quickly and closed his door, leaving Barry to walk back to his room confused.

‘God I really hope he knows what he’s doing.’


	2. Chapter 2

It’s the next day that they find themselves walking to lunch together, hands just brushing against each other. It was nice, considering it had taken so long for Barry to fall asleep worrying if this was all gonna work out. He just couldn't stop himself from thinking about everything, Hunter’s stupid plans, and his stupid grin whenever he knew he was right, and the way he tipped his head back as they moaned against the door-

No, there was no reason to be concerned, even with all of Hunter’s intricate plans, there was an overall scheme, they would fake a relationship, prove to Kurt and Blaine that Sebastian wasn’t interested in them, then they’d stage some kind of break up. He was sure Hunter was probably already workshopping ideas for the latter. Barry trusted that whatever he decided on would be all parts dramatic and emotionally taxing.

‘I can hear you thinking.’ Hunter joked as they made their way over to where the warblers were sat, having grabbed some food. Barry turned to him indignantly, careful not to tip his plate.

‘Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t realise you were a telepath.’ Barry retorted. Hunter gave him a look.

‘Anything I need to worry about?’ He continued, clearly ignoring Barry’s attempt to deflect. 

Everything was gonna be fine, he was just overthinking things. That’s what he always did and it was usually fine. Barry shrugged.

‘No, I guess I’m just tired.’ Hunter took a moment to examine his expression as they took their seats next to each other.

‘Ok, if you’re sure.’

They began eating quietly, comfortable enough to just lazily tune into other people’s conversations. Apparently, David’s younger sister had got a new pet gecko and Wes was listing the most amphibious names he could think of, while Thad was jumping in every few seconds with obscure indie artist names. Meanwhile, Trent’s parent’s were going on a cruise and he was pissed that he hadn’t been invited.

Barry chuckled looking down at his place.

‘Hey, what took you guys so long?’ Thad called out. Barry looked behind him to see Nick and Jeff making their way over, the former staring down at a text book in disgust.

‘Ugh,’ Nick groaned, as they dropped into some empty seats, ‘I needed help with some homework but all the teacher did was talk at me for 10 minutes and then say everything I need is in here.’ He dropped the book on the table dramatically, looking like he wanted nothing more than to never see the damn thing ever again.

Jeff chuckled, rubbing his back comfortingly.

‘I’ve told you it would be easier to just go to-‘

’No babe, I’m not asking him.’ Nick cut him off quietly.

Jeff raised his eyebrows with a small smile.

‘Sebastian, Nick has something he wants to ask you.’ Jeff spoke happily. Nick pouted at his boyfriend before acquiescing, turning to the boy in question with a huff.

‘Sebastian, could you help me with my work please?’ He asked, practically through gritted teeth.

Barry’s eyebrows raised in surprise.

‘Oh sure, I just need to finish an essay first.’ He explained, he was surprised that anyone would ask him for his help. Not that he was doubting his skills, he had in fact graduated high school a good while ago. That being said he distinctly remembered that the last time he’d offered one of them help he’d been called out for acting strange. He supposed it was strange at the time, but that didn't make him any less surprised to be asked now.

Hunter looked up from his food, having been halfheartedly listening in on the conversation.

‘I thought you’d finished them all?’ He questioned, leaning in closely so the others wouldn’t hear, just in case Barry was just trying to get out of helping.

‘I did, but Mrs Garrett gave me two more this morning so…’ Barry responded with a shrug.

‘What? They’re giving you too much, no one needs that much extra credit. Do you want me to say something?’ Hunter spouted out defensively. It really was ridiculous how much extra work the boy had been given, he already had an almost perfect gpa. 

The warblers looked on curiously, quietening down at the sudden show of protection.

Barry on the other hand, just rolled his eyes fondly.

‘It’s fine, I’ve already nearly finished one of them.’ He would’ve done more, but they’d spent the evening with the warblers, and unfortunately none of his powers could make History more interesting to him.

‘You’ll tell me if it gets too much though, they can’t expect you to be focussed when they’re giving you all this work.’

Barry just chuckled.

‘Yeah I’ll tell you.’

‘So are you like officially a couple or…?’

Barry’s head jerked up scanning the table. It was Trent who’d spoken.

He didn’t expect that, no, they were still in the ‘acting close’ part of the plan. 

They hadn’t planned for this, or if they had Barry certainly hadn’t been made aware of it.

So, he panicked.

‘What? Uh no! I mean-‘ Barry cut himself off, for God’s sake, what was he saying?!

He turned to Hunter desperately for help, trying not to let the panic show in his face.

Sebastian was panicking, Hunter thought, watching the boy stumble over his words.

He winced internally, he took pride in his ability to plan things to the last detail, and he had royally fucked up. Hunter really hadn’t expected anyone to straight up ask them, especially not so soon.

And with what Sebastian had just said, they were probably gonna think this was one sided, that Hunter had feelings for him but Sebastian was just using him for sex. That was quite literally the opposite outcome they were aiming for from this plan.

Fuck.

He could fix this.

He racked his brains.

How could he fix this?

Come on Hunter, he just need a reason why Sebastian would deny them being a couple.

He looked around feigning panic.

‘I’m not gay, why would you think that?’ Ok, definitely not part of the plan, but he could work with it.

The warblers looked surprised, feeling immediately guilty for the outright question. Was Hunter closeted? 

—————————————————————————————————

They’d all heard his voice with Sebastian that night, they knew the two were at the very least sexually involved, and from the way they were acting together it only made sense for them that there was something between the two.

However, none of the warblers had taken into account that Hunter might be closeted. They were so used to the tolerant environment at Dalton that it was easy to forget that outside there were still reasons to want to hide your sexuality. It was all they could talk about when they finally got back together after class, feeling thankful that Hunter and Sebastian had managed to sneak off somewhere else, giving them free reign to discuss it.

If anything, it took this happening for them to realise that they didn’t know much about Hunter really, except that he’d come from a military school. Within a week of being at Dalton, the boy had become attached to Sebastian, they spent practically all their time together. So they hadn’t had much of a chance to understand if Hunter came from a background that might make him stay in the closet, or any other reasons he might have? 

‘I didn’t mean to make him uncomfortable.’ Trent whined, having experienced the horror of being outed in middle school. As much as he loved to gossip, Trent would never want to do something like that to anyone else. 

‘I’m sure it’ll be fine Trent, we were all thinking it,’ David consoled him. Beside him Wes nodded.

‘Besides, there's still a chance he actually isn't gay,’ The boys turned to him in disbelief, ‘It could have been a one time thing.’

‘I don’t know about that Wes, from the sounds of it, he was having a pretty good time.’ Trent responded.

Nick allowed them to continue on that trail of debate, giving Jeff’s hand a squeeze before standing to leave the room. As interested as he was in this new point of drama for the boys, he really did need to get his homework done and he didn’t want to let himself get too sidetracked with this. He made his way up to his dorm, making quick work of retrieving his notebook and the hated text book. As he made his way back he hesitated before turning down a different corridor. There was no harm in checking if Sebastian was free to help now, right?

As he made he way closer to Sebastian’s room, he heard voices around the corner.

‘Hunter, please let me in, you’re being so dramatic, Jesus.’ It was clearly Sebastian’s voice.

Nick paused out of sight, not wanting to walk into an argument, all thoughts of his homework promptly fading from his mind.

There was a pause before he heard louder banging on the door, presumably to Hunter’s room.

‘I swear to God, I’m strong enough to kick this door down.’

Nick distantly heard a response but couldn’t quite make out the words.

‘Well fine, I’m quick enough to steal a key from the office.’ Sebastian responded with a smugness in his voice that Nick didn’t understand, he didn’t know about that. Sure, he’d heard about Sebastian’s track success but what was he gonna do? Sprint into an office? That would hardly be efficient, never mind subtle.

‘Hunter, for God’s sake we need to discuss things.’

Nick heard a door open.

‘No, I need to think about this! You went and messed things up by getting all weird today and now I need to come up with a new plan.’ 

Plan? What were they talking about? Nick wondered, glad to note that Hunter didn't actually sound angry, he sounded more mildly irritated at being interrupted from whatever he was doing.

‘They asked if we were a couple and I panicked! What was I supposed to do? Them finding out wasn’t ‘part of the plan’.’ Sebastian argued, lowering his voice at the end in a clear attempt to mock Hunter’s voice.

Oh, so they were a couple! Nick’s eyes widened.

‘I don’t know! But now they think I’m closeted and I need to come up with a way to fix this.’

‘I mean you did literally introduce yourself as ‘not even remotely bicurious’’ Sebastian said, continuing his impression.

‘Will you stop!’ The other boy bit out.

Nick suddenly got a sense that he was being invasive listening in on this private conversation. It was clear that the boy’s didn’t want anyone to find out about their relationship, he almost felt bad simply for finding out.

It went quiet, and Nick was briefly scared that they knew he was there.

‘Can’t we just like tell them?’ Sebastian asked, quietly, Nick just managing to hear.

Hunter didn’t respond verbally, but must have given the other boy a look if the response was anything to go off.

‘Ok, ok, well at least let me help with the plan?’ Sebastian spoke softly, Nick was surprised to hear such a gentle tone from the boy.

Nick heard the door close, and when he peaked round the corner, he saw no one, so presumably Hunter had let the boy in.

He sighed, it sucked that Hunter didn’t feel comfortable with people knowing about them. Nick tried to imagine what it would be like if he and Jeff had to keep their relationship a secret, he hated it. The thought of not being able to hold hands, or kiss, or tell him that he loved him, without fearing that someone would see or hear. It sucked.

But what sucked even more, was that Nick knew that there was no way he could tell the other boys about what he’d just heard.


	3. Chapter 3

‘I’ve come up with something,’ Hunter whispered sharply. Barry almost laughed at the boy’s blatant disinterest in the lesson. It was maths, one of the only classes they actually had together so Hunter liked to use it as planning time. That was fine with Barry, I mean he already knew everything they were learning, and Hunter seemed to be naturally good at maths, so it wasn’t exactly like they were missing out.

‘Are you gonna tell me, or do I have to guess?’ He remarked leaning over with slightly more care not to get caught by the teacher. Hunter just gave him a look.

‘Let’s have an argument.’

‘What?’ The statement briefly distracting him enough to raise his volume to more of a speaking volume, he ducked down as if that would help but luckily it seemed the teacher hadn’t heard over his lecture about the difference between sin, cos, and tan, ‘I don’t want to have an argument.’ Barry continued, once he was sure it was safe to.

’Bas, as far as the others are aware, I’m in the closet and we’re potentially in a secret relationship,’ Barry felt a warmth spread through his chest at the nick name. That was something Joe and Iris called him, but the way Hunter said it made it seem completely different. Barry wondered why. Maybe because Hunter thought his name was Sebastian, but that’s why he liked that nickname to start with, it worked for both names. He wouldn’t admit it but it made him feel just a little bit less like a fraud. 

He came back to the conversation at hand, catching up to what Hunter had said.

’How do you know what they think?’ He queried.

‘Because that’s the way I’ve set it up.’ Hunter stated simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Barry blinked.

‘You know it’s kind of scary how easily you can control what people think.’ 

‘Yep.’ He grinned with pride.

Barry just shook his head fondly, before furrowing his eyebrows, cursing himself internally for being so easily distracted.

‘So, an argument?’ He repeated.

‘Ah! So the idea is, you want to tell people about our relationship, I don’t, naturally there’ll be tension there.’ 

Barry nodded at the run down, glancing over to where the teacher was stood to make sure they hadn’t been noticed. Hunter also took that moment to look over to the teacher, and paused knowing they were close to finishing up the lesson.

Soon enough, the bell rang and they started packing up.

Hunter silently took note of the three warblers who were scattered around the room.

‘Follow my lead.’ He muttered before storming away from Barry.

‘Hunter, wha-‘ Barry startled, watching the boy leave in a rush, he picked up his things quickly and tried his best to catch up.

‘Hunter!’ He called in the corridor, not too loudly but enough to grab the attention of a lot of the people passing by.

David came out the class.

‘Everything ok?’ He asked carefully, having seen the other boy walking out in a rush. It seemed out of character for Hunter who spent almost all of his time with Sebastian.

‘Yeah I just-‘ Just then he saw Hunter a few classrooms down the corridor, heading towards the big staircase.

He ran to catch up with him, leaving David behind feeling even more confused.

Barry grabbed his arm, not aggressively but enough to stop him in his tracks.

‘Ok, so is this meant to be the argument? ‘Cause I would’ve appreciated a bit more time to plan. I don’t even know what to say!’ He spoke in a rushed whisper.

‘It doesn’t really matter too much as long as we look angry and act like we don’t want people to hear us.’ His words were calm and laid back but God, if looks could kill, Barry would drop dead on the spot at the glare Hunter was sending him.

‘Ok, I’m gonna be honest, I’m not sure how this is gonna help our story.’ He said, his expression not matching his words, pulling an equally vicious face in return. He trusted Hunter enough to know that his plans usually worked out, and if they didn’t he was pretty good at fixing things. So Barry thought it was best to just go along with this.

‘Everyone goes through this part of the corridor ‘cause it’s where three different corridors meet, so the warblers will see us arguing, hopefully someone will ask us about it later on,’ Hunter explained.

‘Right and we just say something secretive?’ Barry continued, catching on to the ways they could use this.

‘Yeah, something that implies that we’re disagreeing on what to do because I’m keeping my sexuality a secret.’

They carried on like that for a moment, discussing what they could say but in harsh whispers, Hunter using his vantage point with his back facing the wall to sneak glances around the corridor.

‘Ok, don’t look, but some of the warblers are coming past soon. Say something angry.’ Hunter prompted quickly.

Barry spluttered trying to think of something.

‘Well what do you want me to do about it?!’ He exclaimed loudly, letting his arms gesture frustratedly.

‘I don’t know! I didn’t think I’d be in this situation!’ Hunter saw the warblers slowing down in the corner of his eye, seeing them argue.

‘This ‘situation’, I thought you wanted to be with m-‘ Barry continued.

Hunter glared at him, cutting him off before he could finish his sentence.

‘Ok that’s perfect, now this is me saying something scathing that’s gonna make you feel bad, and later on I’m gonna regret saying, which is what’s gonna lead to us making up later.’ Hunter spoke quieter now.

‘Fine!’ Barry said in a whisper shout.

He would laugh at this entire conversation if he wasn’t trying to look so annoyed.

‘Fine! I’m going to class, we’ll make up later.’ He said before abruptly storming away again. This time Barry didn’t follow him, he just watched him go, rubbing a tired hand over his face for dramatic effect before he also walked away towards his next class.

——————————————————————————————————

Barry went to his next class. French. He huffed, only half paying attention to the lesson going on around him.

Mademoiselle Dupont had given up trying to keep him interested in the classes after a good few weeks of calling him up in class to answer questions and trying to engage in conversation with him in French every time they passed in the corridors. She did look at him sadly every once in a while now though, almost like he was lost and she just didn’t know how to bring him back.

He just wasn’t interested in French. Simply as that. In fact the only time he could think of that he’d used French since originally graduating High School, was when Joe tried to cook something for a date and thought a French recipe would be impressive. Even then he hadn’t been very helpful.

He could practically feel Trent’s eyes on him every few minutes, knowing he’d seen the argument and that he’d do anything to get gossip. Barry was actually impressed by how long he managed to resist the temptation of bringing it up. It was actually 15 minutes into the class that he lasted before he finally caved and said somehing.

‘So, everything ok? It looked pretty tense between you and Hunter before class.’ Trent turned in his seat to fully face him, not even trying to hide it from the teacher, they were meant to be using what they’d learnt to talk about their weekend but it was blatantly obvious that the two weren’t doing that.

Barry let out a dramatic sigh.

‘He’s pissed at me.’

‘Why?’ Just barely hiding his eagerness.

Barry hesitated, trying to think of what he could say. He hadn’t exactly had much time to plan for himself before Hunter sprung this on him.

‘It’s a secret- that he doesn’t want people to know but-‘ Barry trailed off, letting Trent’s imagination fill in the gaps.

‘But you do?’ He questioned.

Barry paused.

‘Well no, obviously I wouldn’t do that to him, I just, I don’t want him to feel like he has to hide it.’ 

Trent nodded, seemingly content with the information he’d gotten. Barry finally relaxed into his seat having got that conversation over with. Thank the lord for Trent being so nosy, he practically did that for him.

——————————————————————————————————

It wasn’t until much later that Barry was disturbed by a loud knocking on his door. He’d just been relaxing on his bed, happy enough not to do anything for the rest of the evening. That’s something he’d developed as he got older. Teenage him was so restless, always looking for the next thing to do, always going out for coffee, or heading out to a club for the night as a reward for whatever he’d done that day. Nowadays, just sitting down was enough of a reward. Maybe that’s ironic considering his powers but nevertheless Barry found himself forcibly removing himself from his bed to open the door.

‘What are you doing? We’re meant to be making up.’ Hunter greeted him incredulously.

‘Oh you actually wanted to do something for that?’ He asked, his eyebrows raising. He watched as Hunter backed down.

‘I mean, I guess we don’t need to.’ 

Barry paused awkwardly. He didn’t mean to shut the other boy down so abruptly.

‘You wanna come in? My sister just sent me a funny video.’ He suggested hesitantly. He was aware that everyone thought they spent every minute together, but they hadn’t actually hung out much without doing something for the plan. Hunter probably didn’t want to just watch a video with him. That was a stupid suggestion.

But to his surprise Hunter nodded.

They sat on the bed leaning against the wall, feet dangling off the end.

It wasn’t as awkward as Barry felt luckily, so they sat together quietly watching videos for a while before either of them said anything.

‘I didn’t know you had a sister.’ Barry looked up.

‘Yeah, she’s the best, honestly.’ He responded, just imagining what Iris would say if she knew he was in a ‘relationship’, real or not.

Hunter paused, looking back at Sebastian’s laptop screen.

‘I always wanted a sibling,’ Hunter admitted, ‘like my parents are fine but it gets pretty lonely, we don’t talk much.’ He shrugged, trying to pass it off as if it didn’t really affect him.

‘I’m sorry.’ 

‘It’s not your fault.’ Hunter shrugged again, but lighter this time. He would never admit how much it meant to him to be able to talk to someone with out them dismissing what he’d said.

After a moment, Barry spoke again.

‘Do you feel lonely here?’ Hunter paused to consider his answer before smiling.

‘No, I’ve got you.’ He joked, but both of them could hear the truth in it.

Barry just laughed, bumping their shoulders together playfully. Their eyes meeting with a fond expression.

Barry forced himself to look away before clicking on another video.

—————————————————————————————————

’No he’s not.’

‘Yes he is.’

‘No he’s not, David Tennant clearly gave a more emotional performance, I cried in his last episode Wes, cried!’

‘I can’t hear what you’re saying over how much of an icon Tom Baker was, he had the best companions, best storylines, best villains-‘ Wes listed calmly, adding more to his plate and following David in the queue.

‘You’re insane.’

‘I’m a genius.’ David huffed, shaking his head, knowing there was no way he’d win over Wes’ stubbornness.

They made their way over to the table in silence, David glancing back at Wes’ smug expression. They slowed as they approached the table seeing the vast amounts of paper spread over the surface.

‘What’s all this?’ David asked looking for a place to put down his plate.

Barry didn’t respond, his head firmly looking down at what he was writing.

‘Bas.’ Hunter spoke more clearly, directing it at the boy, not wanting to nudge him while he wrote. He took it upon himself to rearrange some of the papers on the table to make some more room.

‘Hm?’ Barry finally looked up, ‘Oh, it’s an essay on the inconsistencies in John Donne’s presentation of man’s relationship with women.’

David just nodded, noticing the dark shadows under Sebastian’s eyes and the hunch in his shoulders.

‘I know right, like who cares, we all know he was sexist anyway.’ Barry mumbled tiredly, moving to start writing again. Some of the warblers chuckled at this.

‘His teacher’s are still overwhelming him with extra work,’ Hunter stated, looking over at the staff table in annoyance.

‘To be fair, my grades are lower in English, I could use the extra credit.’

‘No you could use a break,’ Hunter turned to the others, ‘It’s ridiculous, he was already up all night doing work for his other classes and they’ve given him even more today!’

‘It’s fine, I’m nearly finished anyway.’ Barry mollified halfheartedly, more focussed on what he was writing than what he was saying. Hunter backed down allowing Barry to continue on with his work.

He tried to join in with conversations going on around the table, especially those involving upcoming warbler events and such, but he couldn’t help his attention from drifting over to the boy next to him, his body drooping more and more til his head was almost on the table. But his hand still writing on.

It was 10 minutes later that Barry dropped his pen with as much resentment as he could muster and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his hands over his face tiredly.

‘Done.’ He said simply.

‘Well done, now eat.’ Hunter instructed.

‘Ugh’ Barry groaned, finally letting his head drop onto the table.

‘Nope, get up, you’ve barely eaten today.’ Some of the other guys looked over at that. Barry just hummed a response, moving so he could rest his head on his crossed arms.

Hunter waited to see if he was gonna sit up, before sighing in resignation, rubbing Sebastian’s back. He spent a few minutes quickly finishing up his dinner.

After a little while he stood up, shaking the dozing boy lightly.

‘Come on, I’ll take you to your dorm.’ Barry didn’t answer but he did sit up, slowly rubbing at his eyes. He stood up allowing Hunter to support him with an arm around his waist. They started to move but Hunter stopped when he saw Wes standing up with them and grabbing some of Sebastian’s food.

‘He might get hungry later.’ Wes answered the silent question. Hunter shrugged, and they slowly made their way up to the dorm.

Hunter practically carried the half asleep boy, Sebastian was slightly taller than him, but he was definitely strong enough to be able to support his weight despite their height difference.

Wes was following behind them slowly.

When they got to the dorm Hunter carefully lowered Sebastian onto his bed, taking his shoes off for him and placing them next to the door. He’d noticed it was something the boy did so he didn’t have to waste time whenever he woke up late.

Hunter turned to Wes taking the tray thankfully and putting it on Sebastian’s desk, moving aside a pile of books. The book on top looked old, ‘Wells: A Biography’, it had been dog eared and the the binding was battered, like it had been read hundreds of times. 

Hunter distantly remembered seeing the guy on the news for being some scientist or something, Hunter snorted internally, figures that’d be the kind of thing Sebastian would read.

‘Uh thanks for bringing this up.’

Wes nodded in response.

Hunter looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to leave. He wasn’t trying to be rude, but it wasn’t like Wes to stick around if he didn’t want to be there. Hunter watched as the boy took a moment, glancing around the room. He absently found himself wondering how many people Sebastian generally let in his room.

‘You should know, sometimes Sebastian goes through periods where he doesn’t eat much, it’s something we are aware of but haven’t discussed.’ Wes voice remaining neutral, like a politician not wanting to give anything away.

Hunter listened thoughtfully, wondering if this was something he should be concerned about.

‘It hasn’t happened in a while, so I thought you should be aware in case it’s brought on by the stress of this extra work he’s being given.’ 

Hunter looked over to Sebastian who was fast asleep at this point.

‘Thank you, Wes, for telling me, and for looking out for him. I appreciate it.’ He gave a nod of appreciation.

Wes returned it but his expression turned thoughtful, looking between Hunter and the boy draped over the bed.

‘I should also say, it’s none of my business,’ Wes stumbled over his words uncharacteristically, ‘but Dalton is a very accepting environment.’ 

A silence fell over the room, neither knowing what to say.

‘What I mean to say is you will not be judged if you… open up to us.’ He gave Hunter a pointed expression, hoping he wouldn’t have to say more. He wasn’t fond of deep conversations, he never found himself saying the right things.

Hunter looked down, taking that in, not sure how to respond to Wes’ careful wording.

‘Ok.’ Was what he settled on. 

It was strange. He was out, technically, as in he’d told his parents and they’d both been diplomatic enough about it. They weren’t exactly pleased when they found out about it, Hunter hadn’t expected them to be. That being said they were all content to not talk about it. So they acted like he’d never said anything, but there were no more conversations about how he should spend more time with the girl next door, and any time his other relatives would ask about any ‘nice girls catching his eye’, the conversation would be cleverly diverted.

They hadn’t been to fond on the idea of him going to an all boys school. He’d seen the look they shared when he’d first approached them with the idea. Of course they would never say why, that would mean them admitting that their son wasn’t straight. He supposed it could be worse though.

Wes finally left, leaving Hunter to think on what he’d said.

He supposed that’s why he hadn’t explicitly come out to anyone at Dalton. He wasn’t hiding it, but Dalton was a really great school, and it could be a huge help to get him into the military academy. He didn’t need his parents forcing him to transfer because of him acting on his sexuality.

God knows what they’d do if they knew about Sebastian.

Not that there was anything to know about. They were just pretending.

He thought to himself, as he looked down at the sleeping boy.

Yeah. They were just pretending.


	4. Chapter 4

‘Well, can we practise?’ 

‘Why do you need to practise?’ Hunter asked incredulously. Barry reared back defensively.

‘I don’t want them to think it’s our first kiss!’ 

For once, Hunter had actually told him in advance what he wanted to do. Much to Hunter’s annoyance. He claimed that it ruined the honesty in being spontaneous, to which Barry had simply argued that none of this was spontaneous if Hunter’s ten pages of notes were anything to go off and he’d agreed to let Barry know what his plans were from now on. 

However, Barry found himself regretting that decision when Hunter told him that they were going to kiss. Not that there was anything wrong with kissing Hunter. No, he was sure the other guy would be a great kisser.

No.

Barry shook his head at the thought.

He’d been up all night worrying about it. What if this was the thing that made it weird between them? Kurt and Blaine still hadn’t seen them together, hell they hadn’t even officially established their relationship. What if this ruined it and it was all for nothing?

He wouldn’t admit it to himself but deep down he was also scared of what that would mean for them. They’d become… friends. After all, Hunter was the only person at Dalton who didn’t know him for how he used to be. Hunter was the closest to knowing the real Barry. He didn’t want to throw that away over some random kiss.

So, he texted the boy in the early hours of the morning asking for him to come to his room the next day when he was free. Barry would never normally message someone at such a time but it was all he could do to finally catch up on the sleep he was sorely missing.

So there they were.

Practising.

‘Ok fine, if it’ll make you feel better.’ Hunter conceded.

‘I mean we don’t have to, I just thought it’d be a good idea-‘

‘Bas,’ Hunter cut him off, ‘It’s fine, go for it.’

Barry nodded, barely concealing the shakiness in his breath. Suddenly feeling insecure, maybe he was a bad kisser, he hadn’t had many relationships. Even then they were with women, maybe it would be different with a guy. God, he hadn’t been with a guy since high school, maybe he would be terrible.

Barry shook out his hands as if it could scare away those thoughts. 

He leaned in, closing his eyes so he wouldn’t have to see if Hunter judged him.

And they kissed.

It was small, a peck if anything. But successful in itself.

Barry jumped back before he could mess it up, letting out a breath of relief for not head butting Hunter or doing something else equally as embarrassing.

Hunter looked unimpressed.

‘What?’ Barry said nonchalantly.

‘That’s how you’re gonna kiss me?’ He remarked, raising an eyebrow. Barry spluttered.

‘Wha- How else should I do it?’ 

‘Maybe like it isn’t the first time you’ve ever kissed someone.’

Barry huffed indignantly.

‘Well, it’s not like I just go around kissing people.’ He defended.

‘That’s not what the rumours say.’ 

Barry shoved him playfully, Hunter laughed before speaking again.

‘What’s the issue?’ Hunter watched him carefully, moving to sit on the bed, inviting Sebastian to discuss it.

‘I don’t want to take advantage of you.’ Barry sighed moving to sit next to him, but look straight ahead in embarrassment.

‘Oh my god.’ Hunter laughed at that.

‘No really. I’m aware that you’re doing this for me, I don’t want you to feel like I’m forcing you.’

‘you said so yourself, we both get something out of this, the warblers will trust me more as their leader if they see me as human. Besides I don’t mind.’

Barry shook his head.

Maybe this really was just a stupid idea. It was ridiculous of him to think that he could actually change the future by pretending to be in a relationship. His own thoughts mocked him with how insane that sounded.

‘Hey,’ Hunter nudged him, getting his attention. He tipped his head so he could make eye contact with him, his hand reaching out to lift Sebastian’s chin. They leaned into each other.

There was a certain way Barry felt every time he ran, like the world stopped around him. It wasn’t something he been able to fully embrace since he’d come back in time and yet here it was. The world, frozen around them as their lips met, his heart pounding furiously in his chest. The familiar rushing sound hitting his ears as his senses numbed, all his awareness focussing in on how intense his lips felt against Hunter’s.

He wasn’t entirely sure if he imagined the electricity running through his body, his hands tingling as they came up to hold the back of Hunter’s neck. The other boy reciprocated his touch, on hand in Barry’s hair.

After a long moment of neither quite wanting to let go of the other, they pulled back, looking into each other’s eyes. Barry checking for any kind of regret in Hunter’s expression. All he saw was surprise in the other boy’s features and he knew that his face mirrored it. He hadn’t expected that.

‘Ok,’ Hunter swallowed ever so slightly flustered, ‘Better.’ 

————————————————————————————

They found themselves in the warblers practice room five minutes early, just waiting around.

‘Ok, so you know what’s happening?’ Hunter checked from his place, sitting back against the edge of the council desk, watching the boy pacing in front of him restlessly.

‘Yes! we kiss, they walk in on us, we act all surprised and pretend nothing was happening, I’m not as stupid as you think you know?’ 

Hunter laughed, grabbing hold of him gently so he would stand still.

‘I know.’ They looked at each other.

Their heads turned towards the door, hearing voices down the corridor. Hunter quickly checked his phone to confirm, the warblers should be there any minute now.

‘Ready?’ Hunter asked, slightly more apprehensive than he had been earlier that day. Barry didn’t even respond, not trusting himself to answer.

Before they knew it they were losing themselves in it again. Hunter pulled him in, pressing their mouths together, passionate and intense.

They stood propped against the desk, bodies practically glued together. Barry found his hands gripping at Hunter’s shirt, to feel even the slightest bit grounded as Hunter parted his lips, allowing them to get even closer.

Barry felt Hunter’s hand at the back of his neck, fingers toying at the base of his hairline. He found himself wondering how he’d ever been shy about this to began with because right there at that exact moment, pressed against Hunter, he felt completely alive.

The doors opened and there was noise of the boys’ conversations coming in.

Hunter and Barry jumped apart, honestly quite startled, suddenly remembering what they were doing. They turned away from each other almost instantaneously, Barry patting down his hair self consciously, Hunter wiping at his face and quickly making his way behind the desk to his chair.

Based on how quickly they reacted, in any other circumstances they might have even gotten away with that if they didn’t want the others to see them.

However, in this case the warblers had most definitely seen them.

They’d frozen in their conversations, hesitantly standing at the door, not knowing whether they should come in or leave the two of them.

It was a awkward few seconds, but when it seemed that the two boys weren’t going to acknowledge what they’d walked in on, the warblers slowly started coming into the room.

Soon enough they were all talking normally again, or at least trying to whilst taking their seats around the room.

Only occasionally looking at the two boys who were both seemingly pretending the other didn’t exist.

Rehearsal went on as normal as it could, Barry doing his best to look uncomfortable, Hunter obviously very tense whenever he gave a direction for one of the songs.

By the time practice was over, many of the boys seemed glad to be able to escape the atmosphere, only to be stopped.

‘Before you all go, I’d like to make an announcement,’ Some of the guys who’d started to get up sat back down respectively. Barry watched him confused.

‘Not as warbler captain, just as- I don’t know, as friends?’ Hunter explained, he hesitated at the word ‘friends’. It’s not like any of them really knew him, except Sebastian of course, but he was doing this to help him. So at the sight of the other boys nodding their encouragement, he continued.

‘Um yeah so, I mean you all know already I guess, but I wanted to officially say that- I’m bisexual, and yes Sebastian and I are in a relationship.’ Barry smiled at him comfortingly, realising that they were finally telling them.

‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, I just wanted to take my time.’ Hunter spoke in a formal tone but soon relaxed when he saw everyone’s accepting smiles and nods.

David patted him on the shoulder from beside him.

‘Thanks for telling us man, you two seem good together,’ David spoke, grinning over at Sebastian who reciprocated it gratefully, ’So I think I speak for everyone when I say we’re happy for you both that you felt comfortable enough to tell us.’

Hunter thanked him quietly, looking back over at the group.

‘Ok yeah, you can go now.’ He laughed, and the boys happily stood making there way out of practice.

Hunter stayed in his seat, grounding himself for a moment, looking down at his shaky hands. Whatever the circumstances, that never failed to be a terrifying experience.

’So, we’re out.’ Hunter looked up at the sound of Sebastian’s voice as the last of the warblers left the room.

‘Yep.’ Hunter said letting out an uncharacteristically shaky breath. Barry smiled.

‘I’m proud of you, you know, plan or not, that must have been difficult.’ He looked up at the other boy, taking appreciation in knowing that Sebastian knew exactly how he felt right now having done it himself many times. He'd felt how his heart leapt nervously, and his jaw would clench around the words he was trying to say.

‘All for the plan.’ He said dismissively, his tone belied by the gratefully look in his eyes. Sebastian grinned.

‘I know.’ They took a moment to just look at each other, fully taking in what had just happened.

’So,’ Hunter spoke, ‘What’s next?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And boom, straight into Chapter 19 of Could Have Been
> 
> Eyyyy what a fun little story
> 
> I haven't decided what I'm gonna write next yet, I have people's requests noted, but feel free to keep more coming.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading x


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